The Plight of Samus Aran
by Sharonlover
Summary: A complete Revamp of my original story... Turned out better then I expected. Happens after Super Metroid! Please Read and Review. Sharonlover
1. Revamp

The Revamp  
  
This isn't really a chapter to my story but in order to keep the reviews for my story I had to add a chapter and replace the text. When I first started this story almost 4 years ago, I didn't think I would get to many reviews on it. However, I surprised myself with my creativity and ended up getting 22 reviews for my first fanfic. I was amazed that people actually enjoyed my story but I somehow didn't want it to end but like many books there has to be an end. I read over the story time and again trying to think of ways to better it. Just a month ago I decided that my the story lacked the "meat" necessary to make it a true personal classic. Therefore I went back and added a couple of scenes and completely re-edited and changed some things within the story. I found myself reliving the days when I had wrote the story by hand and I ended up making this version much longer then the original. For those of you really die hard metroid fans, I hope you truely enjoy this and forgive me for the excessively long chapters but I felt it wasn't necessary to add chapters or cut chapters apart.  
  
Another quick note. Many people new and old to the Metroid saga have often asked me where I get my information about Samus' past from. I mainly drive her origins from the Captain N comics that premiered in Nintendo Power some time back. They can still be found online at This is the index for the comic. If you check around they have some pretty cool original comics too. Though this isn't the official history of Samus, I found it interesting and decided to use it as her origins. Houston Armstrong has never appeared in a Metroid game to date and with more Metroid games on the way, Samus' past may become more clear and my "factual" past for the bounty hunter may be wrong. For those of you do end up enjoying this revamp of my first fanfic, I suggest checking out my others as well. I wanted to do sort of a "Metroid Saga" from beginning to end. A collection of my own prequels and novelizations of the Metroid games.  
  
I have successfully completed "In One We Will Find A Warrior". This takes us back to the Space Pirate raid on Samus' home colony and her childhood through teen years growing up with the Chozo. Here she meets Houston Armstrong for the first time and her future arch nemesis, Ridley.  
  
I also completed "Metroid: The Adventure Begins" This would be a novelization of the original Metroid game. If the upcoming Metroid Zero ends up being a remake of Metroid and Metroid II then I will be going back to revamp that one as well to try and keep my timeline as close to Nintendo's as possible. No summary is needed for this one.  
  
Current works include: "Metroid: The Phazon Experiments" which is nothing more then a novelization of Metroid Prime. I must remember to leave room in the time line for Metroid Prime 2.  
  
Also I'm working on "Rebirth Of A Legend" This is set far in Samus' future, basically the end of her life. I won't give nothing away but check it out cuz it might touch your fancy.  
  
Another works in the works is "Total Conversion". This is sorta my lost story that I don't know if i'll complete. This would be my first official cross over. I felt that the chicks from the anime Bubblegum Crisis and Samus had a lot in common with there suits. Therefore I paired the two and had this great idea, but I sorta lost interest when Prime came out. It will be finished one day but i'm not exactly sure where in my timeline it fits, definetely after "The Plight of Samus Aran" though.  
  
Finally, the coming soon, like who knows when. Novelizations of Metroid II, Super Metroid which I can't wait to do cuz it's my favorite, Prime 2 and Metroid Fusion are all on the board whenever I get around to them. I want to definetly finish my current works before starting a new one. I thank you for taking the time to read this really stupid necessity thing and I urge you to please at least leave a review at the end of my story to let me know if the revamp, for those of you who read the original, was any better then the first and for you first timers, I really hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it for you all. 


	2. Introduction

The Plight of Samus Aran  
A Fanfic by: Matthew Sharonlover Sharpe  
  
This fanfic is meant to show what happened after the event of Super Metroid. All characters and anything related to Nintendo or Gumpei Yoko's work is done with the highest respect to their most beautiful creation, Metroid. In other words, please don't sue me :). Enjoy  
  
Chapter 1 Introduction  
  
Samus Aran had just barely escaped form the planet Zebes where she had not even ten minutes ago destroyed the Mother Brain, hopefully for the last time at that. She was soon on her way back to the Galactic Federation Police Headquarters to report her procedure as well as doing the usual paperwork required. Of all things Samus hated filling out the paperwork. As she flew through the dead of space she couldn't help but think how the Metroid hatchling had helped to save her life by sacrificing its own. Her respect and admiration for the Metroid race had blossomed after she had witnessed such a heroic act and she could think of no means in which she could return her thanks. Looking back on her recent adventure she knew that without the help of some of the native Zebesian creatures on the planet, she would not be alive this very minute. She felt saddened by the loss of all the innocent creatures and restless souls that would forever plague the spot where the planet Zebes had once orbited. Her Metroid hatchling was presumably the last of its race. How science had come to destroy, what she believed, to be such an admirable creature after all. She thought vainly of the way that she herself had to slaughter so many innocent creatures, only because they were defending there home against a being that was once one of there own and who had before infiltrated there beloved homes only to leave them in shambles.  
  
~Does the human race have no consideration for life?~ Samus questioned herself. Samus thought more bitterly of the Mother Brain and her insidious band of Space Pirates. Samus felt nothing but hate and frustration toward the Mother Brain, who had plagued her twice now. She looked back on her adventure still, and could not believe the mass slaughter and destruction she herself had to dispense to keep the Mother Brain from mindlessly unleashing a power far greater then its own on the universe.  
  
~Had that Metroid been fully-grown it would have easily taken the Mother Brain out...without question!~ Samus continued thinking to herself. Samus soon reached the Federation Headquarters where she waited impatiently to submit her paperwork.  
  
"Humph, paperwork. Why in the hell should I have to fill out paperwork? What an absurd request. So I killed a few beings. There is no reason for me to explain why because it is pretty clear that they were all killed in self-defense. How stupid", Samus said. She hated paperwork; everything had to be done with paperwork: mission approvals, binding contracts and even small compensations for repairs. She wanted to tell them to shove their paperwork but she had to make a living to.  
  
The receptionist soon called Samus up and said, "Well Mrs. Aran, I'm not surprised to see you here so soon again. As much destruction and chaos as you cause."  
  
Samus retorted angrily, "Well I would not be here if your idiotic government didn't make me fill out this damn paperwork saying I killed a few Space Pirates now WOULD I?"  
  
"I suppose not, you can sit down until they call you, MRS. ARAN", the receptionist replied with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Samus didn't go sit down though; instead she headed for the door that led to the locker room. She wanted to change out of her armor and put something a little more comfortable on. She didn't know exactly what she was going to wear seeing she had left her changing of clothes back on her gunship.  
  
"Hey! You can't go back there yet, they haven't called you!" Yelled the receptionist.  
  
Samus stopped in her tracks and turned toward the receptionist and replied, "LOOK LADY", she walked back to the desk and smashed her armored fist through the top of the glass to make her point, "How would you feel running around a hot planet all day in an armored cooking oven? HUH? Wait you wouldn't know because you're nothing more then a brown nosing, hair twirling pencil pusher RIGHT? Now if you don't mind, I am going to go and change into something I don't have to WELD SHUT every time I put it on. OK!?" The receptionist was taken aback by the bounty hunters violent outburst and quickly began distracting herself by cleaning up the mess she had made.  
  
Samus headed back to the locker room where she could change. In the dressing room, Samus figured it had taken her around a full day to complete her mission. This was a great success, seeing that her first assault on the pirate's Zebesian fortress had taken her a good week. She hoped this would be the last time she would have to deal with the Mother Brain. She knew nothing could have survived the blast that had obliterated Zebes, but then again she had been wrong once before. Samus looked back on that close battle with the Mother Brain that had almost ended her life.  
  
She remembered going down a circular shaft where cannons fired random shots in her direction. When she reached the bottom there was a door. It was a pink door that indicated that she needed about five missiles to open it. Samus had learned the difference in the colored doors from her childhood. Growing up on Zebes, Samus remembered being restricted from many areas of the Chozo's labyrinth of tunnels. She was told that many powerful secrets were locked away, secrets Samus had grown up to finally reveal.  
  
Samus walked out of the dressing room wearing some high cut Jean shorts and a small black T-shirt with GFP on the front that she had found sitting just inside an open locker. She thought it was a little tight, but hey...men like that right? She walked down the hallway and let her hair down. The dirty blonde hair seemed to swirl before it settled into a bouncing routine that coincided with her walk.  
  
Samus continued through the pink door only to be met by a room filled with glass walls. The floor bubbled over in places where acid was eating through it. The room was sweltering and Samus was sweating profusely within her power suit. Continuing through the room, cannons continued to shoot at her. All the while she tried to keep her footing as she advanced from one ledge to the next trying to keep out of the unforgiving acid that bubble and boiled just inches below her. She knew if she fell into it that it would only be a matter of minutes before the suits energy would be depleted leaving her helpless and vulnerable to the melting liquid. After blowing apart the glass walls she came upon a sight that she thought she would never see again. It was the Mother Brain, in the flesh, enclosed in her protective glass casing. It was like deja vu for Samus. Just two years earlier she had beheld the same ugly and hateful creature. She had easily disposed of her before and could not believe that this monstrosity was still alive. The Mother Brain attacked from inside her glass shield. Samus returned fire, leading with an onslaught of missiles to destroy the glass casing which would then leave the brain vulnerable against Samus' attacks. The case was now destroyed and super missiles quickly began launching from Samus' arm cannon tearing the tissue from around the Mother Brain. There was soon an explosion and the room was sealed off from everything else. The broken glass, wires and tubes were all melted in the acid that began draining from the room. Samus sat staring at the dead brain on the floor. It was just her and this dead brain but something was wrong. Where was the self-destruct that the Mother Brain was sure to have in case of emergencies?  
  
Samus reached the front desk. The receptionist was still busing herself, cleaning up the glass and sorting papers back into order. "The captain will see you now Mrs. Aran. WAIT! Hey! Those are my clothes you're wearing!"  
  
"Is that so? Thanks, they fit great. I figured you wouldn't need them, besides...I look a lot sexier in them then you sure the hell would, "Samus replied winking at the open mouthed receptionist before walking away with a huge satisfied grin on her face. She headed back down the hallway toward the elevator lobby and entered the first available cart. She then continued up toward the captain's floor and the elevator started with an annoying grinding screech as it began its ascension.  
  
So there she was stuck in the room with a dead Mother Brain. Now what? There was a terrible screeching sound and Samus looked back at the brain as it started to rise. Samus was dumbfounded by this grotesque creature, which had now established mechanical legs and arms, as well as a body to support itself. Samus stood for a moment in disbelief at what she was up against. Gripped with fear, Samus unleashed a hoard of super missiles, missiles and power bombs. She had completely exhausted her armament of weaponry and still the Mother Brain stood tall. The only thing Samus had left was her plasma ice beam, which she used to the best of her ability. She repeatedly charged it and sent it flying at the Mother Brain while dodging bombs, fireballs, and lasers. The plasma ice beam was apparently causing a greater deal of damage then her other weapons had caused and soon the brain began to weaken. Samus stood back to assess her situation while dodging the Mother Brains onslaught. Samus was surprised when the hideous creature backed against the wall and stood almost in a meditation-like stance. The brain began to collect energy and its head began to glow as the power grew. Without warning, the Mother Brain shot the energy at Samus, sending the bounty hunter sliding across the floor before crashing into the wall. Samus was able to rise to a kneel but the power suit and herself had lost a large percentage of energy. The brain again began to collect more energy and it would soon harness enough power to destroy the weakened hunter.  
  
Before the brain could unleash its deadly beam of energy, Samus heard an all too familiar sound. With a horrific cry, the Metroid hatchling tackled through the wall and latched itself onto the Mother Brain, sinking its huge fangs into the brains soft tissue before attempting to drain the energy from the brain. Samus was desperately searching for spare energy to help the Metroid with its attack on the Mother Brain but was unsuccessful with her attempt. The Mother Brain soon fell to the floor in a gray heap, its energy drained from it. The Metroid lifted off of the creature and flew over to Samus where it slowly descended and began transferring the Mother Brain's energy into Samus and the power suit. Unfortunately for the two, the Mother Brain was not yet done for. The brain struggled to seat itself and once it had done so, it began regaining its strength. Eventually the Mother Brain came to and slowly rose again, making its way toward Samus and the Metroid hatchling whom was still transferring its energy. The Mother Brain began attacking the two and still Samus could do nothing. The Metroid would not allow Samus to rise from beneath it, using its own body to shield the bounty hunter from the danger the Mother Brain was dispensing. Samus could tell the Metroid was beginning to weaken as the glowing green slime that covered the Metroid began to change to a dark brown. Finally the Metroid rose off of Samus and began circling back around to attack the Mother Brain again. The walking brain saw the Metroid coming and threw back its head and shot a fire blast at the attacking Metroid. The Metroid screamed in agony as the fire blast shot through its tissue and soon it began falling toward the ground and fell on to the rising bounty hunter. Before the Metroid's body dissipated into ashes, it managed to transfer the last of its own energy by latching onto Samus, breaking through the power suit. The suit instantly came to life, surging with the newfound energy. The power suits circuitry began humming with power and the word "hyper" appeared on Samus' visor. Samus could no longer hold the tears back and with a loud scream the infuriated bounty hunter unleashed a blinding beam of light from the power suits arm cannon. The hyper beam tore through the Mother Brain leaving holes where the beam burned through the body. The Mother Brain stumbled back in shock at the shot. Samus continued attacking the Mother Brain with tears streaming from her eyes, as she became more and more angered. Soon the Mother Brain fell to its knees and dissipated into a pile of ashes under the immense energy of the hyper beam. Samus continued shooting the pile of ashes in pure hatred for this vile creature. Soon a red light began flashing and a computer-generated voice came from a loud speaker, "The self-destruct sequence has been initiated. Please evacuate the premises immediately. Three minutes remaining."  
  
The walls began shaking as small explosions rocked the inner facilities of Tourian and Samus departed down a hallway that opened up behind the Mother Brain's chamber. Samus found herself running through rooms and fighting off the relentless Space Pirates as she tried to find her way out.  
  
The elevator chimed and the doors opened as the elevator came to a halt on the thirty-eighth floor of the GFP. The captain's office was just down the green carpeted hallway. Soon she would be telling the same story over to him. Samus started down the hallway.  
  
Samus had made it to a long vertical shaft she recognized from her earlier infiltration into Crateria. She began climbing up the shaft jumping from one ledge to the next as she made her way up toward the surface. Soon the ledges began falling apart and Samus had to resort to her space jump to allow her to make it to the top. The space jump allowed Samus to continuously jump in midair without have to find a place to land. Once within the familiar caves of Crateria, Samus headed for her ship but was interrupted by the screaming of creatures. She decided to investigate and ran off course toward the sound of the distressed beings. Inside a room, Samus found a Dachoras and three Etecoons desperately trying to dig there way to a tunnel that had been blocked by falling debris. Samus quickly dispense of the creature's obstacle whereupon they graciously began running down the hallway. Samus turned and began her trek back to her ship. At least she could try and save something good from the planet. Back out the door she went and out to her gunship where she quickly made her way out of the planets atmosphere. As she left the planet behind her, Samus could hear a low rumble erupting from behind her. She turned her ship back towards the planet to watch its destruction. Small explosions could be seen on the surface of the planet before a blinding white light temporarily engulfed the dark of space. The sonic blast from the explosion that followed caused the hunter class ship to rock violently throwing Samus to the floor. When Samus pulled herself to the viewport the planet Zebes was no more, just floating chunks of the ancient Chozo planet.  
  
So here she was outside of the captain's office ready to explain the whole thing over again. 


	3. The Return

Chapter 2 The Return  
  
Samus stood outside the captain's door for a moment dreading the lecture she knew she was about to get. She knocked on the door and a gruff voice told her to enter. Samus walked into the small room they considered an office. The walls were filled with pictures of family and friends of the captains. His square brown desk was situated against the wall across from a window overlooking the ship's docking port. The desk was piled high with an endless amount of paperwork. Captain C. H. Hunter looked up at Samus with tired eyes.  
  
"Well, hello Mrs. Aran, what a pleasant surprise to see you here", said the captain with a touch of sarcasm in his voice.  
  
"Save the formalities for someone who cares. Okay? I see you love doing paperwork even more then I do."  
  
"Ho oh, very funny, please sit down", he gestured to one of the two chair sitting opposite of him. Samus took a seat in the chair he had indicated and began his lecture. Samus knew she was going to get it. Hunter was a very stern man when it came down to business. He had moved up in the GFP after many years of hard work. His leadership skills were widely known and he had become an integral part of the GFP. Recent years had been hard on the aging captain and his short brown hair was beginning to show hints of gray. His tired blue eyes hid behind thick wire framed glasses. Though he had just turned the ripe age of sixty, he was amazingly fit and able to keep up with some of the best in the GFP. Samus had grown fond of the aged captain and his sense of humor. "I heard you went gallivanting on the planet Zebes again. From what my sources tell me, there is no longer a planet Zebes, just the newly formed Zebes Asteroid Field. Am I mistaken Samus?"  
  
"No sir, you are not", replied Samus looking down at the desk.  
  
"Why don't you tell me what happened?"  
  
"Well sir it went like this. Upon leaving the home planet of the Metroids, I headed for Ceres Space Colony. Upon arrival at Ceres, approximately a year later, I dropped off the Metroid hatchling for research. After leaving the station, I received a distress signal from the station. They said they were under attack. When I returned, the station was in shambles. I found the Metroid hatchling in one of the docking bays. The Space Pirate's general, Ridley was holding it hostage. He escaped me and headed toward Zebes with the Metroid in tow. Of course, I followed him...", Samus spoke in a monotonous tone as she read notes from her log book benchmarking the events of her journey.  
  
Samus continued her story; she told of her battle with the spore spawn and all the other menaces the Mother Brain had come up with including herself. "I see...in other words you had a pretty busy day."  
  
"I do believe that is an understatement sir", Samus retorted.  
  
"Your orders were to destroy the Metroid race. Why then did you go against direct orders and save one?"  
  
"I allowed my emotions to cloud my ability to make decisions. I was the first thing this creature had seen and it thought of me as its mother. I guess I just couldn't find the urge to destroy such an innocent baby creature. It grew attached to me as I transported it and me to it as well. I figured that it was best to keep it alive for research purposes", she explained.  
  
"Still, you disobeyed an order, with that there are consequences."  
  
"But sir, I...I...", she stammered.  
  
"I know you cleaned up your mess and made the galaxy safe for trading again and I did take that into consideration when deciding your disciplinary action. I've decided that in the best interest of your career and until things simmer down with the guys upstairs, you will be on a one- year suspension and your bounty-hunting license has been revoked until your suspension is up. You are no longer by an old book saying, licensed to kill."  
  
Samus' mouth dropped at the word suspension and she was trying to think of a way out of her predicament.  
  
"Oh and further more...", the captain began again before a violent shaking cut him off. The desk slid across the room as the building began to sway from an explosion overhead. The two were thrown from their chairs and to the floor, the captain's desk slid into the window causing it to crack. Another explosion roof side made the ceiling tiles start to fall and the two protected themselves with their hands as they ran out into the hallway. "What the hell is going on up there", Hunter yelled over the screaming employees and explosions.  
  
The sound of gunshots echoed from the stairwell and down into the hallway immediately catching the attention Samus and Hunter. The two turned toward the stairwell door to see a group of Space Pirates waltz in. The group of Space Pirates was gray in color and often reminded Samus of praying mantis creatures on earth but a much larger version. There skin was made up of the same metallic substance found in the Chozo's skin and this made the pirates invulnerable to light arms fire. There were only a few spots on the pirates that could be shot where damage of any type could take place.  
  
"Damn! Space Pirates, what the hell are they doing here", Hunter cried.  
  
"I have a pretty good idea. Do you have a gun anywhere?" Samus hollered over the people.  
  
"Yeah, top right desk drawer, but you can't...", he started.  
  
"Shove it and save it for later", Samus cut him off running back into the office just in time to see the desk flying out of the now broken window, "Damn it!" She turned and ran out of the office to find Captain Hunter pinned to the wall by one of the pirates who was about to blast the captain away with its Galvanic Accelerator Cannon. The captain tried struggling to free himself but the pirate had a firm grip on him and the captain began to panic.  
  
"SAMUS HELP ME PLEASE...I DON'T WANT TO DIE", he cried.  
  
Samus quickly tackled the pirate to the ground then grabbing it by its leg, she swung it into the wall that crumbled against the weight of the pirate. "Thank you Samus. I want these creatures tracked down and destroyed!"  
  
"I thought I was suspended sir?"  
  
"Well I just deemed that your services are needed. Now get these things out of here and find out why they are here", the captain yelled running toward the firearms room.  
  
"Now that's what I wanted to hear", Samus said with a satisfied smile spanning across her face. Samus made her way to the elevator with the pirate she had tackled closing in fast behind her. She jumped in the elevator with the pirate barely missing the door. Samus pressed the lobby button and the elevator began descending. Near the end of its journey, the elevator was stopped and the lights began to flicker. The Space Pirates had jumped down the elevator shaft landing on top of the elevator cart. Samus could hear the creatures firing at the elevator cords and soon Samus felt weightless as the cart was cut from its line and began plummeting toward the bottom. With a crushing sound the elevator was slammed into the bottom of the shaft and Samus was bounced about knocking herself into the rubble.  
  
Samus climbed from the pile of debris that was once the elevator. She nimbly jumped over the bodies of the pirates from the shaft and onto the lobby floor where two more Space Pirates were waiting for her. "Come on guys, what's the matter. Did I forget to pay my light bill or something", she asked jokingly.  
  
The pirates glared at her, un-amused by the feeble attempt at joking. They both jumped her at the same time. Samus tried hard to keep them back but without her power suit she could only do so much. Samus resorted to using her hand to hand combat training and did her best to defend herself against the two pirates. She attempted to somersault over one of them to separate the two but was read like a book and tackled to the ground. The two pirates pinned her to the floor and Samus struggled to get up.  
  
"Let me up you!" Samus yelled at them. One of the pirates held the bounty hunter down while the other raised one of its arm-like appendages and chopped Samus in the neck. The hit was just so to put the bounty hunter into a state of unconsciousness. The last thing Samus saw were the eyes of one of the pirates looking at her with what appeared to be a smirk on its hideous face. The next, Samus was overcome by the darkness that was unconcsousness. The two pirates picked her up and walked out of the building toward their ship.  
  
...|...  
  
Though Samus was unconscious, she could still sense everything going on around her. She heard voices, familiar voices? No...they weren't...wait maybe they were. They were all to muffled for her to understand. Her eyes finally fluttered open and she found herself with a bright light shining her in the face. She couldn't move because she was strapped to a table of some type and Samus didn't realize other beings were in the room till a red clawed hand strapped a mask over her face. Soon a mist came in through the mask and Samus realized it was a sleeping solution and soon the bounty hunter was put back to sleep.  
  
Samus found herself in a large dark room. The floor was covered in a deep fog and the only light was from a reddish glow coming from the floor. Samus walked quietly through the fog taking caution because she couldn't see what was in the dark. A chirp caught Samus' attention and she turned to find herself face to face with a Metroid. The green free floating creature chirped excitedly and more of the creatures came into sight. The lot of Metroids attacked Samus, sinking their fangs into the bounty hunters power suit. Samus could feel the energy draining from her and a light soon illuminated a glass case in the background. Behind the glass, the Mother Brain was visible laughing insanely at the helpless bounty hunter.  
  
Samus awoke with a start. She found herself in a huge cave and the first thing that came to her mind was the dream she had just had. A caged light above her dimly lit a small circle around her like an invisible wall before the darkness began. She still felt a little queasy from the knockout drug and only when a light breeze brush by did she realize that she was naked. She tried to find her voice but nothing would come out. She sat back down on the ground. She was cold and hungry and she dared not to go into the darkness for fear her nightmares might just come true. She looked down at her body and tried to scream but only a muffled whimper came out. Her body was covered in circular marks. Had her dreams been true? Did the Metroids return only to torture her? Her body sure did seem to support such an idea. In the darkness, a door opened and the silhouette of a Space Pirate was visible before it walked into the light. It carried a covered tray and Samus backed as far away from the creature as the light would allow. The pirate placed the stuff on the ground in front of her and uncovered the tray revealing a speaker, which it turned on.  
  
"Hello Mrs. Aran. I do hope you are finding our accommodations quite comfy", spoke a distorted voice over the speaker. The pirate uncovered the other tray to reveal a meal of some sort. "Please eat Samus, you are going to need to stay alive and fit for me. Please don't disappoint me", came the voice again.  
  
~Who is that, she thought to herself, and what do they want with me. I am a bit hungry but how do I know I can trust whoever this is.~ Samus was still terribly cold and she shivered as another breeze came by. She seemed to come back around to her senses and her head was starting to clear now. She could make out dim shapes in the shadows and she got up to look around. It seemed she was in a large cave, probably the size of a two- story house. She could barely make out the door with which the pirate had entered. She turned toward the speaker.  
  
"Cccccllloottthes, pppleeeeassse", she finally managed through chattering teeth.  
  
"Clothes? But why my dear, you're not cold are you? On the other hand, are you ashamed? I don't see why, you have such a beautiful body my dear."  
  
Samus was started to feel very uncomfortable in the cave and not only due to the cold but the fact that whoever this was had de-clothed her. "Wheeerrre arrre my cllllothes", she rubbed her hands together vigorously trying to keep them warm.  
  
"Well you see Samus dear, we needed to strip you so that we could ensure that you carried no weapons of any type. That would be detrimental to keeping you here. Now don't worry Samus, the heat should be coming on any minute now", replied the voice. The Space Pirate left the cave, leaving Samus and the speaker to themselves.  
  
"Wwwhoo are you?" Samus asked.  
  
"All in due time my dear, all in due time", it replied. Samus sat down and eyed the plate before her. She was rather hungry and could eat probably whatever it was that was in front of her but she didn't trust her captures as far as she could see. "Please do eat Samus. If I wanted to kill you I would have done it back on Earth."  
  
"Ii'm not ooon Eaarth then?"  
  
"No far from it. Again you will know everything soon enough. I assure you that the food is safe to eat, and now I must take my leave for I have things to take care of. Bye for now Mrs. Aran."  
  
The speaker died and Samus was left to herself. She looked at the plate again as her stomach began to churn. The creature on the platter resembled that of a ripper but no shell was present to confirm the thought. The main course was surrounded by vegetation she could not recognize. Samus took a whiff of the aroma before tearing off a slightly greasy piece of meat. She slowly chewed the tiny morsel and to her surprise found the cuisine to be very delicious for whatever it was. Upon completion of her meal, she got up and walked around the small circle of light noticing for the first time the cameras lodged into the crevices of the cave. As if the pirates had realized Samus had found the cameras, a white mist began pouring from the cracks between the cave walls. Samus found herself nodding off and before long the darkness consumed her mind again.  
  
...|...  
  
Samus awoke once more to find the cave empty. The tray that had held her meal was now gone and was now replaced with another. She walked over and opened the lid. Under it were a pair of panties, a bra and a pair of socks.  
  
"Yeah right, these are going to keep me warm", she said sarcastically to herself holding up the small pieces of cloth. Well at least I'll be covered now she thought to herself. She slipped into the pieces of lingerie. "Oh man do these feel good", Samus said with little enthusiasm. As long as her feet were covered she would not be cold. Its weird, she thought, how as long as your feet are warm the rest of your body seems to adjust to the temperature. Samus, now feeling much better wearing something even though she felt like she was in some really weird porn movie, walked around some more. She was trying to devise a way to get out. The only way out, that she could see, was the door. It was a good fifty feet from her and she really did not want to leave the safety of her little circle of light. Just as she was about to venture into the darkness, the speaker came on again.  
  
"Ah, I see we are awake again Samus. I hope you appreciate your clothing, you have no idea what I had to do to find the right size my dear."  
  
"Yeah is that so, I thought I was just here for your pleasure."  
  
"Oh but that is not the case..."  
  
"THEN WHY AM I HERE?" Samus yelled toward the speaker.  
  
"Very well, you seem eager enough to finally meet me", it replied. With that the room was thrown into complete darkness. Samus was scared now because the light she had so wanted to protect her was now gone. She heard the opening of a door and the cave started shaking as she could hear rocks grinding together as they fell apart. Samus wished she had her power suit with her so she could see what was happening. Finally the light came on again and Samus looked around seeing no immediate difference in the room. Samus heard heavy footsteps from the darkness coming toward her. She estimated a creature probably around ten feet tall.  
  
"Well Samus, I am so glad to finally have a chance to talk to you in complete safety of myself", the voice came from the dark. The creature crept closer from the darkness and slowly a blood red clawed foot slid into the dim light. Who is it, Samus kept asking herself. Samus sized the figure just right. When she made it to the chest she had figured on who it would be. It was none other then her long time rival, Ridley. Ridley had changed in appearance though. It was not the Ridley of past days; this Ridley was a darker red on the verge of purple. Ridley was extremely bony and his tail swung from one side to the other, the tail that seemed to have a mind of its own. Each vertebra jointed to the other with some sort of metal. His legs were scrawny but lethal and the claws on his feet could tear through most types of metal. His chest was sunk in and his back was a grotesque mixture of craters and bone sticking through the rough scale that was his skin. Wings protruded from his shoulders; they were torn and worn. He had been through many battles and it was begin to show. Much of the damage to Ridley was a direct connection from past battles with Samus. His arms were scrawny, like his legs, and his clawed-hands were a menacing site. On top of his neck was the beaked face of Ridley. the eyes, purple in color, were dimly lit deep within his skull. His beak came to a sharp point where a few jagged teeth made their home.  
  
"It is you!" Samus said with a slight hint of surprise in her voice. She hadn't though of Ridley at first but then again she should have. Only Ridley would take interest in the bounty hunter that had spoiled so many of his plans. "I thought you were dead you loathing worm?"  
  
"Oh I was dead in a sense. You see after you destroyed me on Zebes, some Space Pirates escaping the planet found me and brought me with them. They took me to one of our ships where they rebuilt me. As you can see they did a fairly poor job. I figured you would be the last person to expect me alive and so I was right. I wanted to see you die in person and as to where you are, ironically enough we are on the biggest asteroid in the Zebes Asteroid Field. I figured you would want your soul to endlessly wander the space where so many of your enemies are. I have a bomb set in the middle of this asteroid. It will explode in about fifteen minutes. I would love to stay and chat really, but I have mischievous things to get done", Ridley explained.  
  
"What are you planning to do you fiend", Samus questioned the red dragon.  
  
"Simple. I am going to destroy the Earth. That planet full of ungrateful humans. It should have been done long ago. I shall lead a battalion of Space Pirates to nuclear facilities on the planet whereupon my word they shall induce a meltdown. This will cause that puny planet to be inhabitable by the human race. As I said, I have things to do my dear. It was great seeing you again, and oh, try to keep yourself together." Ridley walked off laughing hysterically.  
  
"NO! You can't do that!"  
  
"Watch me dear", he replied, then turned around and added, "Check!"  
  
"The lights went up and the cave was lit completely. Ridley walked through a wall, which happened to be the thing that lowered earlier, that was nothing but a hologram. Samus could hear the start of engines and then them flying off. Samus ran toward the wall and slowly stepped through to find a fully operational Space Pirate docking bay. Lo and behold, her ship was on the ground. It was guarded by a group of Space Pirates. She knew her suit was on board and only if she could get to it.  
  
"That's it!" She exclaimed to herself. There was a hatch on the underside of the ship for maintenance purposes. All she had to do was slip into the ship, put her suit on and she would be ready to take the pirates on. Samus slowly crept around the pirates, trying hard not to make any noise. When she made it to the door she grasped the lever and the door opened with a rather loud whoosh, a little louder then she had expected. The Space Pirates heard the noise and quickly opened fire on the bounty hunter who disappeared into the ship closing the door behind her. Samus found her armor and put it on. The pirates gathered around the ship firing their cannons at the gunship. They had no affect on the ship though. Samus got in the pilot's seat and prepared the ship for take off. She entered a set of numbers on the control panel and the ship came to life. The air then rushed out form under the ship blowing most of the Space Pirates away. The ones that were left, Samus picked off with her twin 60mm cannons. She lifted off and detonating a power bomb, left through the once sealed docking bay door.  
  
"HA! That will teach you to mess with the great Samus Aran! I hope you all fry in Hell", she said laughing hysterically toward the screaming pirates. She headed out of the Zebes Asteroid Field and set her course for Earth. She had to try and beat Ridley back so she could warn the GFP.  
  
.|.  
  
On a small asteroid just off the one Samus had escaped, two figures sat watching the bigger asteroid come to life with gunfire.  
  
"I do believe she fell for the bait", one sinister voice spoke.  
  
"Yes I do believe she has. Now for part two of the plan." Ridley watched as Samus' ship headed in Earth's direction. 


	4. Trap!

Chapter 3 Trap!  
  
Samus docked her ship at the Galactic Federation Police Headquarters. She started for the captain's office, sidestepping construction workers and painters. Apparently after she had been knocked out, there had been a much larger attack on the GFP by the Space Pirates. Much damage had been done to the building as Samus could see through many of the walls straight into offices and even to the outside. Samus stepped outside of the stairwell and headed down the hallway to the captain's office.  
  
"Samus! Where the hell have you been for the last three days?" asked Hunter.  
  
"Three days? Was I missing that long? Well, to make a long story very short; the Space Pirates kidnapped me, did some sort of experiments and held me prisoner. While I was imprisoned I was confronted by Ridley, he...", she was cutoff by Hunter.  
  
"What? Ridley is alive. I thought you killed him."  
  
"That makes two of us. I was just as surprised as you are. Anyways, he told me of his plans. He is sending an army to earth. They are going to attack and destroy the Earth. After that, I was able to escape. I could not find Ridley anywhere."  
  
"Does he have an army big enough to even take us on?" he asked a bit worried.  
  
"That I do not know. He has many connections with terrorists and many of our own enemies. It's quite possible that he does. I suggest that we cut him off or have a defense of some type put into place", she replied.  
  
"That would be the most prudent course of action. I will have to get permission from my superior", he said, "that's all for now, stick around though because I have a feeling we will be needing you."  
  
"Yes sir", Samus left the room and started back down the hallway. She decided she had better go and see the facilities doctor. She wanted to find out if there was any internal damage to her body. Samus made it to the doctor's quarters and knocked on the door.  
  
"Please come in", replied a woman's voice.  
  
Samus walked in to find the doctor sitting behind her desk. It was the doctor's first week. The previous doctor, Doctor Haines, had just retired and the new doctor was fresh out of medical school. Her name was Jill Twelski. She was short with brown hair and blue eyes. "Hello, what can I do for you?" she asked politely.  
  
"Hi, I need a physical exam", Samus replied.  
  
"And what is the reason for the exam?" the doctor implied writing down notes on a notepad.  
  
"Well, I awakened a few days ago, under extreme conditions that I am not in liberty to discuss with anyone, and I found my body covered in circular incisions. They don't hurt and they seem to be healing just fine. I would just like to know if all my internal organs are still there or if there has been any damage done to me."  
  
"Let's have a looksie then shall we? I didn't quite catch your name."  
  
"My name is Samus."  
  
"And have you been seen by a GFP doctor before?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Lastly, are we going to be filing insurance or are we billing you?"  
  
~What is with the twenty questions, geez I only wanted a physical~ "I don't know who covers it, you might want to look it up", Samus answered becoming aggravated by the doctor's questions. "My name is Samus Aran, bounty hunter hired by the Galactic Federation Police under contract 1356542. I have top clearance level in all departments, I am a Pisces, and I haven't had sex in almost a year. Is there anything else you would like to know?" Samus asked.  
  
"No I think that just about covers everything I needed to ask you", Doctor Twelski answered smiling, handing Samus a clipboard, "I just need you to fill out these papers so we can get you into the system."  
  
"Paperwork! Damn it, I just can't get away from it", she yelled snatching the clipboard from the doctor.  
  
"Excuse me? I don't quite follow", the doctor replied.  
  
"Oh sorry, did I say that out loud. My bust", Samus said sitting down to fill out the paperwork. When she was done filling it in, she handed the papers to the doctor who took them and set them to the side.  
  
"I'll just put all this in later."  
  
"That's fine with me, I just want to get this physical done with", Samus replied.  
  
"Okay lets go down to the examination room and we will begin."  
  
"Lead the way doctor."  
  
The two headed out into the hallway and down to the end where they entered into one of the two examination rooms. "Okay Mrs. Aran, let me get you to take that armor off, strip down and put this wonderful little outfit on", Doctor Twelski said handing Samus a blue hospital gown.  
  
"No problem. You do have a place for me to hang my armor right? I don't want it to wrinkle", she said trying to lighten up the dull mood. The two laughed at the small joke she had made. Samus pulled off her armor and piled it up on a chair. She took extra caution when dismantling the arm cannon. Samus then put on the hospital gown and sat on the doctor's metal table. The cold sharp pain that accompanies a doctor's examination table pinched her bottom. "Damn this table is cold", she yelped, jumping at the cold sensation.  
  
Doctor Twelski questioned Samus about the incisions and Samus answered her promptly telling all she knew about the incisions, including the nightmare she had involving the Metroids. After the questioning, the doctor carefully examined Samus' body looking for evidence of bodily harm.  
  
"I'm sorry but I am baffled. All of your parts seem to be in place and these incisions do not reach to any dangerous depth. You seem to be in a fit condition physically; however, I am worried about your mental health. You seem to be traumatized by past experiences. This is not healthy and I believe you need to see a physiatrist about these dreams", the doctor concluded.  
  
"You think I'm crazy to huh?" Samus was becoming irritated again. The last thing she wanted to hear was that she was losing her mind. "Well I'm not losing my mind and I will not go and see a physiatrist. Thanks for the examination and I hope you have a good day, seeing you just ruined mine", Samus yelled emotionally, briskly walking toward the door with her head up.  
  
"Oh Mrs. Aran? Before you walk out, I am sorry to ruin your day, but you might want to at least wear your underwear before you go out there."  
  
"Samus looked down to find herself in the hospital gown still. Her face flustered and she grabbed her stuff and quickly threw it on holding the arm cannon in her hands. She continued out the door slamming it behind her and all the while Doctor Twelski giggling slightly at the situation.  
  
Samus stormed down the hallway. She had been insulted even though she knew she had problems but they were her problems and no one else should tell her how to deal with them. She walked up to Hunter's door and knocked. She was told to enter.  
  
"Where have you been? I have some bad news from upstairs", he said as Samus walked in attaching the arm cannon to her power suit.  
  
"Sorry Captain Hunter, I had to go and see the doctor about these incisions."  
  
"Well, are you alright?" the captain asked with little concern.  
  
"Yeah, she said I was in good shape and, like me, has no idea what these marks are", she replied.  
  
"That is strange. Anyway, the Director of Intergalactic Defense, Carl Speal, said that he would have a small battalion head out and keep patrol in the outer orbital perimeter."  
  
"That's it!?"  
  
"Well unless we have tangible evidence of the Space Pirate's attack, we have nothing. However, Speal knows of your reputation and with my advice, he said he would go ahead and take the necessary precautions."  
  
"It's better then nothing, I suppose", Samus said before making a suggestion, "If you don't mind, I am going to grab my ship and help out with the patrol. I want to be there in case anything goes down", Samus explained.  
  
"I figured you would want to do something along those lines. I already have permission for you to take hold of this operation and you can be on your way immediately. I took the liberty of having your ship refueled and maintenenced. You will dock with the Maindena where you will seek out Admiral Hall and relieve him of his strategic command. Just do me one favor and be careful out there."  
  
"Yes sir", Samus said turning about and walking out of the little office. Samus headed for the stairwell wondering if Ridley could muster up the kind of force he had mentioned or if he was just bs'ing her. She would soon find out. Minutes later she was strapped into her pilot's seat on her ship and after receiving clearance, departed from the GFP docking station.  
  
...|...  
  
Samus brought her ship into the outer orbital perimeter and seeked out the starship cruiser, Maindena. She found the massive flagship just on the far side of the moon. Smaller cruisers and patrol ships lined the entire orbit of the planet, evenly spacing there patrol areas. The line of space vehicles stretched around the planet as far as Samus' eye could see. Many of the ships appearing as little specks before disappearing on the other side of the planet. Samus docked with the Maindena and quickly made her way towards the ship's bridge.  
  
"Good afternoon Mrs. Aran. What can I do for you?" Admiral Hall turned to greet the famous bounty hunter. He had heard of her many adventures and like many others, he was intimidated by the best bounty hunter in the galaxy who could take on an entire Space Pirate force. The short round man tipped his white hat as Samus stopped in front of him.  
  
"Good afternoon Admiral, I am here to take over command of this fleet. Here are my orders and clearance levels. My only job here is to run the program strategically. You will stay in charge of your men of course, but all orders and such are to be run through me, is that clear?" she asked with complete confidence of her leadership abilities.  
  
"Yes it is", he replied a little reluctantly after hearing her orders before cheering up. After all he was under the command of the great Samus Aran. After several hours of patrol, nothing suspicious appeared. It was dead in space, to dead for Samus' liking. She wanted to see some sort of sign that Ridley had not led her into a wild goose chase or had just side tracked her so he could have more time to plan. Samus was near the end of her patrol and was about to abort the mission when the admiral approached Samus.  
  
"Samus, there has been a call for help from one of our star cruisers. Apparently, there engines failed and they had to crash land on the moon."  
  
"We weren't contacted about engine problems before the accident occurred?" She questioned a sense of suspicion filled her.  
  
"Well when the engines failed, the communications were brought down momentarily and they had to wait for the backup generators to kick in before restarting the equipment. I've radioed the ship's commanding officer and he confirms the original distress signal", Admiral Hall explained, "Do we have permission to send a recovery team Samus?"  
  
"Yes, permission granted, but tell them to be careful", Samus said, dismissing Admiral Hall from her presence. She turned her attention to the black field in front of her glimmering with the sparkling of stars. She had always loved space and thought of it as a third home to her. Samus drifted into a daze, trying to imagine the last day her parents had been alive. She could remember close to nothing about her parents or her home. Everything she knew about them, she had learned from old files and information the Chozo had found on them. Her parents had been tragically killed in a Space Pirate raid on her home space colony on K2-L. Though she was never told who led the raid, Samus knew deep down that the Space Pirate's General Ridley was the one behind the entire thing, like most pirate activity. Samus was pulled from her thoughts by the crackling of an intercom.  
  
"We are approaching the crippled star cruiser, proceed with caution", the admiral's voice echoed over the speaker system. Samus watched the cruiser move slowly toward the downed ship on the bridge's viewport.  
  
The intercom came to life again, "Admiral Hall I presume", a crackling voice came over.  
  
"NOOOOOO! GET OUT OF THEIR NOW!" Samus yelled through the microphone over the intercom. She knew that voice and that the lives of her patrolling crew were in danger. Ridley was around and that only meant trouble.  
  
"Who is that Samus?" Admiral Hall asked, "this is a private military frequency. Whoever you are, please get off immediately."  
  
"I SAID GET OUT OF THEIR! IT'S A TRAP!" Samus continued to yell into the intercom.  
  
"All ships, retreat to outer orbit parameter and initiate defense systems", Admiral Hall ordered. The ships within the vicinity began turning around and retreating to a safe distance, "who the hell is that Samus?"  
  
"I am afraid you are to late Mrs. Aran. Now I will watch you all die", Ridley commented over the system.  
  
"Samus? What do you mean its a trap? Samus?" The admiral asked over the communications system, his voice turning from the calm command to a panicked whine.  
  
"Don't ask! Just get the hell out of there or you're all gonna be dead", Samus replied.  
  
"Now now Mrs. Aran, you aren't getting away that easy", Ridley said. Samus had just ordered the Maindena into a full throttled retreat when a blinding light flashed from the surface of the moon. With great speed, the light broke through the dark of space and engulfed the fleet. Samus stumbled around trying to close her visor to protect her eyes from the blinding light. She finally managed to lower the tinted glass and looked out of the viewport. A huge fireball slowly advanced toward the fleet like a tsunami heading across the ocean. One by one, the fleet's ships were swallowed by the raging inferno, exploding and burning in the wake of the wave. Samus turned and fell to the floor in an attempt to shield herself from the inevitable and possibly uncertain death that would soon be upon them. The blast rocked the ship and Samus was slammed to the wall. Pain shot up her spine and through her body as her arm went numb. She watched as the console in front of her burst into flames and the viewport started to crack. The room was beginning to lose pressure and if the viewport did not hold out then the vacuum of space would soon be Samus' resting place. Another explosion from behind Samus, sent the wall crumbling to pieces, the debris tossing the helpless bounty hunter into a nearby console. The visor smashed upon impacting sending glass flying at the huntress' face. She could feel blood running down the side of her face as more debris was dumped on her. The impact of a monitor into the bounty hunter's head brought her back to her knees and before she could react she was once again thrown into the darkness. 


	5. The Chase

Chapter 4 The Chase  
  
Samus awoke to find herself in a hospital bed. The first thing Samus noticed was the immense pain she was in. She found her left arm in a cast and couldn't move it. She was surrounded by instruments that measured her vitals and medication. She also noticed someone sitting in a low chair in the corner. The only light came froma small fluorescent lamp sitting on a bedside table.  
  
"Wha...Ho...", she tried to speak while pulling herself up, only to fall back down onto the bed.  
  
"Don't move", the man in the chair said.  
  
"Captain Hunter! What...what are you doing here?" she asked.  
  
"Well someone had to make sure you didn't die", he said, a large grin spreading across his face, "I was actually waiting for you to get up so that I could see when you would stop this faking and get back to work."  
  
"Wh...wh...what happened to me?" she asked, her voice coming out a bit slurred.  
  
"I couldn't tell you honestly. A recovery crew found Admiral Hall carrying your carcass around the Maindena. Hold on just a minute. Admiral Hall is around here somewhere, let me see if I can fetch him for you. He can explain everything more clearly", Hunter replied as he briskly walked out the door.  
  
Samus was left alone. She tried to recollect her thoughts butto noavail. All she could remember was a bright light, an explosion, and then nothing. There was a knock on the door and Doctor Twelski entered. She flicked on the overhead light, temporarily blinding Samus. "Good, Captain Hunter told me you were up so I thought I would come in and check your vitals. I do believe you are no longer physically fit Mrs. Aran. So how are we feeling? Any better?"  
  
"Well considering the last time I was awake I felt completely fine, now I feel like I've been dragged through hell three or four times. My head is throbbing, I've got pain shooting up my spine and my arms in a cast and won't move", Samus replied annoyed with the obviously stupid question.  
  
"How bout I fill you in on your ailments? To begin with, you have a pulled muscle in your back. That pain should dissapate in a few days. You also have twenty-five stitches in your head, right above her left temple. A laceration about two inches long was sewn up..."  
  
"Well that explains the minor aches and pains, but what's wrong with my arm?" Samus asked, rudely interrupting the doctor.  
  
"It's paralyzed", she answered bluntly, "lucky for you its only temporary. What I mean by that is that the nerves in your arm are still in a state of shock. An object smashing into your arm probably caused a bit of nerve trauma, but it will be no time at all before it heals. I found that your body heals at an incredible rate! It is quite remarkable."  
  
"Runs in the family", Samus remarked turning her view from the doctor. She knew plenty well that the Chozo blood that ran through her veins sped up the healing process. There were many things that Chozo blood did to Samus, helping her to become the efficient and feared bounty hunter she was. The doctor started looking through Samus' medical charts and checking the different instruments around the room. The door opened and Admiral Hall limped in with a cane.  
  
"Well Samus, it looks like we were the only survivors."  
  
"What!? What do you mean? What happened out there?" she stammered.  
  
"Its just like you said, it was a trap", he replied. Samus looked at the admiral with blank eyes. She had no idea what he was talking about. The admiral noticed the stare and continued. "I don't know how much you remember, so I will tell you what happened on my end of the line. Do you remember the distress signal?" Samus thought a moment before nodding her head yes. She faintly remembered something about an engine failure and a distress signal. "Good then. After we recieved that signal, you gave us permission to investigate. As we neared the down ship, an unidentified voice came on over the intercom. I couldn't make out whom it was but then you came on next. I couldn't understand too much of what you were saying. I noticed a few of the cruisers began turning about in a retreat pattern and so I followed suit. From what I have been told, a bomb of some sort was detonated on the downed ship. Apparently, we had a few traitors among us. Our guess is that Ridley stowed away and brought that explosive with him. Seeing that there were no survivors, we cannot make a complete investigation into the incident. After the explosion, my cruiser was thrown into the Maindena. When I found my ground, I made my way to the bridge where I found you under some debris. I decided to drag you along with me and let me tell you this, that suit of yours is heavy as hell. Both ships were damaged beyond operation and I dragged you to the docking bay in hopes of finding another form of tranportation; lucky for us, your ship was still in the station and after some quick guessing and luck with pushing buttons I was able to get the hunk of metal flying. The rescue crew picked us up from there and sent your ship to the maintenance shop. That's basically what happened in a nut shell."  
  
"That's it huh?" Samus asked.  
  
"Basically", he replied.  
  
"I think that's quite enough excitement for Mrs. Aran today Admiral Hall", Doctor Twelski interrupted, "Let Mrs. Aran get her sleep. She should be up and about in a couple of days."  
  
"Alright then, we will allow you to rest up. Until next time", Admiral Hall said as the captain and himself exited the room waving toward the disabled bounty hunters.  
  
"You should sleep pretty well Samus. I increased the drip on your IV line. Tata for now", Twelski chimed as she turned out the light and closed the door behind her. Samus could feel her eyes drooping in the darkened room but she did not want to sleep. She tried to fight the inevitable; she desperately wanted to get her thoughts together and start planning action against the diabolical Ridley. There was nothing Samus could do but to succumb to the weariness.  
  
Samus found herself in a large dark room; the only light filtered through a mist covered floor. She forced herself to walk through the unknowing mist toward a mass of floating red orb-like objects that seemed to be mashed together. She continued walking closer to the floating object and as she drew nearer to it, a familiar aura arose. The mesh of red substance soon became enclosed inside a clear bubble giving off an off green glow. Four white fangs soon became visible from underneath the floating mess and Samus immedietely recognized the being. The Metroids haunted her dreams once again. Out of the darkness, a swarm of Metroids flew at Samus. They encircled her and danced around her as the slime dripped off of their fangs. Samus turned and tried to run but was tackled to the ground by the group of Metroids. Their fangs broke her skin and she could feel them draining her of her life force. In the back a light became visible illuminating a glass case in which the Mother Brain was sitting behind. The glass broke and the brain rose to its full stature and began lumbering towards the helpless bounty hunter. Its arms were outstretched and its yellow eyes bulged out from the hideous brain, glaring evily at Samus. Its dead eyes began burning into Samus' chest and she could feel her heart straining to pump, but the brain only continued its telepathic death stare.  
  
"Samus", a slighty audible voice echoed through the room, "I know what you want. I can give it to you."  
  
"Who are you?" Samus uttered almost completely drained of her energy.  
  
"You want me to revive them don't you?" The voice continued.  
  
"What are you talking about", she asked. The Metroids fangs sunk deeper into her chest and her heart felt like it was about to explode.  
  
Samus was thrown out of her dream. She woke with a start in a cold sweat and shaking uncontrollably. What the hell is wrong with me she asked herself. Samus could not get the eerie voice out of her head. It bothered her the rest of the night. What do I want, she asked herself continuously. She tried to piece her nightmare together, asking herself the same question the voice had. She knew it had to be something to do with the Metroids or the Mother Brain, but what? Who would I want revived? No one! She thought to herself. She kept throwing ideas around in her head until she finally thought she had it figured out.  
  
"Okay lets try this", she said out loud talking to herself, "After I defeated the Metroid Queen I found the hatchling. The hatchling thought I was its mother. It had loved me from the get go and I ended up becoming attached to it myself. T...H...E...N, when I fought the Mother Brain, the Metroid sacrificed itself for me. Therefore, my love for the Metroid and my guilt about losing the hatchling has been bottled up inside. My nightmares are just releasing these feelings. Damn! I shoulda been a physiatrist, but that still doesn't explain the voice."  
  
Doctor Twelski interrupted Samus' thoughts, "Good morning Samus. I trust you slept well?"  
  
"Actually no I didn't."  
  
"Really now? You've been out for the past three days."  
  
Samus pulled herself up in the bed and could barely feel any aches. "You know, I think I'm feeling well enough to get out of this bed now."  
  
"How about I make that decision for you."  
  
That was the wrong answer Samus wanted to hear. This doctor was not about to run her life for the next few weeks over a few aches and pains. She had been in much worse scenarios then her present. "Um no...how about this plan. How about me taking my power suit there and putting it on. With that done, I'm going to walk out of this room leaving you here with your mouth hanging open." Before the doctor could reply, Samus ripped the IV out of her arm giving a slight yelp at the sudden pinch of pain. The doctor immedietely began objecting to Samus' eratic behavior and tried coaxing her to stay. Samus ignored the pleas and suited up. She then walked out of the room, leaving the good doctor with her mouth hanging open.  
  
Samus checked the suits statistics as she walked through the halls of the GFP. She planned on grabbing her ship and making her way toward the Zebesian Asteroid Field. She was more then positive that Ridley was hiding out there. She made her way to the building docking station where her ship was being held.  
  
...|...  
  
"Now that Samus Aran is gone, we can continue with your plan. I must say though, I thought Samus would have put up a better fight then what she did", Ridley said as he stared at the illuminated figure in front of him. Ridley had managed to escape the core explosion but didn't make it outside of the sonic boom radius. After he had armed the explosive, he had begun his retreat only to be held up by some resistance. When the explosive blew, Ridley was thrown unconcious, floating in space for half a day before he came back around.  
  
"Oh Ridley, how faithless of you to think that Samus is dead. You of all beings should realize her determination", spoke the figure lightly.  
  
"You mean...she's still alive?" Ridley asked with a slight tremor in his voice. No matter how hard he tried to shake the feeling, Ridley knew deep down that once Samus was gone that there would be no one that he could match wits against. Ridley had seen many battles with the great bounty hunter. The two had both seen their fair share of wins and losses but in the end Ridley had always managed to be beaten.  
  
"Yes Ridley, Samus Aran is still alive. You forget that I know too your love for matching up with Samus. Prepare yourself Ridley; Samus will soon be joining us. This time must be different though. This time...you must kill Samus. If you fail then you shall die; if not by Samus then by me. The show is about to begin", the figure retreated into dimness as Ridley gracefully bowed his head respectfully. He didn't want to kill her so soon but if he had been told to do so then he would have to comply with the demand.  
  
...|...  
  
Samus turned the ignition on in her ship and it responded with a roar of life. She threw the ship into drive, leaving the screaming mechanic behind her. She maneuvered her ship recklessly between buildings and as she was checking her ships gauges, something tapped her on the shoulder. She jerked around in surprise as the ship lurched forward throwing the culprit onto the console. Samus quickly recovered the ship, set it to autopilot and pinned the unsuspecting culprit to the floor. "What the hell are you doing here?" She asked Captain Hunter allowing him to sit up on the floor.  
  
"I might ask you the same thing Samus", he replied angrily rubbing his sore head. Samus turned her attention to the ships main console setting the coordinates for the Zebesian Asteroid Field before turning her attention back to Hunter. "What do you expect to accomplish in your condition?"  
  
"I can manage, besides I feel much better anyways", she retorted, "it won't take long for this to heal and by the time I reach Zebes I should be able to move it. You should really leave before I get to far because this is way over your head."  
  
"Your right. I am over my head, but so are you and you're coming back with me and that's an order!" He demanded reaching for her arm cannon. Samus instinctively lift the bad arm up to him, arming the power cannon. Hunter put his hands up and backed up in defense.  
  
"Imagine that! I told you it would heal quickly", she said sarcastically. Now I am going to go and you are not going to stop me. I have to put an end to this madness. Ridley is too dangerous and unless I stop him there could be real trouble from him. The Galactic Federation didn't even get a feel of his strategic capabilities with that little raid on the headquarters. I suggest again that you leave now so I may tend to my business."  
  
"Okay Okay! No need to get so hostile. I figured you would listen to me and so I thought I might be able to help you."  
  
"You help me? Don't make me laugh Hunter. You, like the rest of them incompetent officers, are no match for the Space Pirate's legion."  
  
"I didn't mean help as in actual physical battle. Lord knows I would love to see a good battle again but I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to handle it anymore. Here, this is yours." Hunter reached behind him and pulled a small cylindrical stick out. He thrust it toward Samus who raised her hands up. She didn't want to accept an unknown object.  
  
"What is it?" Samus asked.  
  
"I couldn't tell you. My father gave it to me when I was a child. He told me the object was from an ancient civilization. There use to be a story behind this thing but I forgot it long ago. I remember him telling me though that I would one day meet a legendary warrior in foreign garments that would fight against the dark ones on his own."  
  
"I hardly think I'm a legendary warrior", she laughed behind the green visor.  
  
"Oh but you are Samus. Don't you realize that anyone who knows anything about space criminals or the GFP knows of Samus Aran. The entire federation talks about you, many still not knowing the fact that you are a woman, but regardless if you don't consider yourself legendary. The fact is that you do fight the Space Pirates on your own. You are the only one that takes on platoon after platoon of those pesky pirates." Hunter could see Samus was becoming irritated as he learned to sense the benevolent angry silence that emitted from the cold suit that hid the bounty hunter. "Okay look. Before my father died, he told me of this time he had helped this being. That is where he recieved the stick. He told me his name was Old Bird, an ancient Chasto or something like that."  
  
Samus' eyes darted to Hunters. Yes, she knew Old Bird. Old Bird was an old Chozo. He was the one that raised and trained Samus with the power suit after her parents had been killed in a Space Pirate raid on her home colony. There were only a few hundred or so Chozo left in the ever dwindling species. "Please take it Samus. I couldn't figure out what it is but maybe you can."  
  
Samus came back to her senses and grabbed the cylindrical device from Hunter. If Old Bird had really given this to his father to give to a power suit holder then it would work for her. "There's not much to this thing is there?" Samus asked as she turned the stick around in her free hand. Hunter nodded in agreement as she was just as confused as him to the secrets the object held. Samus fumbled with it till it dropped from her hand. She caught it before it hit the floor and in the process grabbed the stick a bit hard. There was a sudden metallic clang as a handle emerged from the bottom and sword popped out of the top extending to about three feet. The sword glimmered in the dim light as Samus held the sword and gazed down toward the handle where the infamous "S" was etched into the handles end point. The sword itself was double-sided and seemed to be made of a lite titanium steel. "Wow! I could get use to this", she remarked looking over the sword, "it's so lite too!"  
  
"That is pretty nifty isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah it is", Samus brought her thoughts to the present, "I'm going to continue after Ridley. You need to leave."  
  
"No I can give you back up of some type. There has to be something I can do to help", Hunter said with pleading eyes. Samus didn't feel much like arguing with the man.  
  
"Fine! Look here. In the back of the ship there is this walk in closet. I need the bag that is sitting on the floor in the back. There's a light switch just to the right as you enter.  
  
"Alright", Hunter replied heading toward the rear of the ship. He walked into the small compartment and reached for the light switch. The light flickered on and he walked toward the back of the closet and the door shut behind him clearly sounding that the door had been locked. Samus had managed to lure the unsuspecting Hunter into the ship's escape pod. Samus smiled to herself as Hunter began beating on the door, yelling obscenities at her. She smiled to herself as she pulled a lever on the control console. With a hiss and the sound of locks releasing, the escape pod was jetisoned out to space and heading for Earth. Samus turned on the intercom to the little escape pod.  
  
"Nothing personal Captain Hunter, but this is my fight. I've got to do this myself." Samus took the sword and retreated it to it's native form. She finished setting her course for Zebes and began preparing herself for the obstacles ahead of her. 


	6. Rivals Meet Again

Chapter 5 Rivals Meet Again  
  
It was only a small matter of time until Samus found her hunter class gunship manuevering through asteroids lazily floating the sector that the planet Zebes had once orbited. With the massive area that the asteroids covered, it would take Samus forever to find Ridley. Samus passed by many suitable flying rocks that could house the dragon's facilities but Samus knew that Ridley wouldn't pick just any asteroid. Samus searched the field for hours but was unable to locate an asteroid that would satisfy Ridley's requirements. Maybe he's not even here. No, he would come back. I know he would. Samus thought to herself. A shimmering light caught Samus' eye and she pulled her ship around for a closer inspection. Amongst a tightly knit network of small asteroids, a humongous chunk of what appeared to be the interior of Zebes was slightly visible. Samus cautiously flew her ship into the field, fearing that one of the many smaller asteroids would cause damage to her ship. Luckily for her, she managed to force her way through the debris, making grimacing faces as small particles of the asteroids clunked off the side of her ship. Samus found the shimmering light coming from the surface of the huge asteroid. She brought the ship down on its surface and locked her helmet into place. Upon setting foot onto the monstorous rock, Samus immedietly noticed that the light was actually a reflection off of a door. I got you now Ridley! Hot pockets of steam shot up from various cracks and crevices in the ground. The door was lodged between two Chozo statues that Samus recognized as the Chozo god of creation, Enode. This meant that the chunk of rock that Samus was walking on had to be part of ex-Norfair. The blue door lay at a slight angle into the ground and oddly enough there was power running to the door. With a quick shot from her arm cannon, the door silently slid open.  
  
Samus stepped inside the door and was instantly greeted by the corpses of Zebesian creatures. Samus could make out a few Zebs, side hoppers and her personal favorites, the kilhunters. I wonder how many of these are my handy work? She asked herself. The floor seemed to be very unstable and there were cracks running along the corridor. The walls appeared to be the same way as well as the ceiling with the exception that stalactites hung from them. A few stalactites managed to make there homes along the corridor as well, reaching for the ceiling as if they were trying to reconnect with where their home should be. She could smell acid in the air. Yep, I'm definetly in Norfair. Samus journeyed down the wide tunnel that made up the corridor and the farther down Samus went into the asteroid, the more it seemed to come alive. She could feel eyes upon her. The passage was lit by an eerie glow coming from the walls. Ahead of her she became aware of shadows moving along the passage toward her. Life? Here? That means that this has to be Ridley's facilities! The shadows became bigger and Samus took up hiding behind a huge stalactite growing up from the floor. As the shadows began growing on the wall, Samus was able to make out a muffled conversation in a language she couldn't understand but knew all to well. Soon three Space Pirates emerged from the dim glow walking slowly down the passageway, there Galvanic Accelerator Cannons fixated loosely to there sides. They seemed to be just a routine patrol group.  
  
Samus allowed the pirates to walk by her as she slid around the stalactite to take up a position behind them. She quietly followed the pirates back up the path until she was within reach. Samus reached behind her and pulled out her sword. Grasping the handle, the sword activated with its metallic clang echoing off of the tunnels walls. The pirates turned to investigate only to find the bounty hunter holding the sword at striking distance.  
  
"Well now fellows, I don't believe we've met. Samus Aran, bounty hunter for hire", Samus said carefully watching there movements. If she wasn't careful they would all fire upon her at once and then she would be in a slight bind. The pirates cocked their heads sideways eyeballing the armored being in front of them before making what Samus assumed to be quick comments to each other. With one swift motion, Samus brought the sword around and sliced the creatures into two. Their blood splattered to the floor, beating their falling bodies. "Guess they never heard of me." Samus sheathed the sword and continued down the passageway at a faster pace. Samus soon found herself facing a dead end. I must have overlooked a side passage or something, Samus thought to herself.  
  
"Samus. It's good to see you are alive and well", Ridley's voice boomed through the tunnel causing Samus to slightly jump in surprise.  
  
"Where are you? We've got some unfinished business to take care of!" Samus yelled at the air.  
  
"Oh, come now Samus. When have I ever told you where I was? You're a smart girl. I am pretty sure you will figure it out as you always do." There was a silence that followed and Samus figured Ridley was done talking. Samus punched a quick command into her suit and the suit responded by activating her X-Ray visor she had acquired during her last mission. Looking at the wall, Samus could make out a weak point. Samus curled into her morph ball and laid a bomb. The explosion only shook the dust off of the wall. Samus viewed the wall again. She had managed to weaken it more, but nowhere near crumbling status. I could use a power bomb, but I don't know exactly how stable this rock is. It could just blow us apart completely. Samus decided for the power bomb and quickly laid one. This time the wall crumbled against the massive explosion. Samus uncurled and advancing toward the hole in the wall, Samus became aware of a hot sensation at her feet. Looking down, her feet were standing in molten lava. The explosion had caused the magmic solution to rise to the floor. Samus walked through the hole in the wall to find herself in a laboratory. Glass tubes lay shattered on the floor. The lights in the ceiling flickered and sparked causing her visor to constantly try and focus the scene in front of her. There were tables covered in slime and test tubes. Along the walls were holding cells in which laid the corpses of Chozo and other native Zebesian creatures. Samus walked to the rear of the lab and entered another door.  
  
Samus found herself in a makeshift office with a desk littered with papers and what seemed to be a computer system of some type lying on the floor in pieces. It was better lit then the previous room and steam rose from cracks in the floor creating a fog-like appearance. The walls were covered with bulletin boards full of memos and letters. Samus browsed through some of the memos before going through the papers on the desk. She scanned a few and threw others to the side until one caught her eye. Metroid Cloning Program! So that's how they cloned the Metroid. They stole the Ceres Scientists work! Samus looked behind the desk and found a grotesquely mutilated human body sprawled on the floor. They apparently stole a scientist too. Samus put the paper back and headed back to the previous room where she noticed a door in the wall beside the hole that she had recently blown. The entered the door and found herself in a brightly lit corridor. Wires ran along the walls tracing the path that the lights that lit the tunnel took. The air was heavy, musty and hot and Samus began to slightly sweat within the armored suit.  
  
"Welcome to Norfair where you can suffocate in the humidity in complete uncomfortable anguish." The corridor twisted and turned inside the huge asteroid and eventually led into a humongous cavern the size of a football dome. The cavern was lit dimly by lights far up on the caverns ceiling. The floor was covered in cracks and the ever present steam created a misty cloud injected with a red glow from an unknown light source under her. The walls of the cavern was covered with cracks and magma oozed from some. They trailed down the walls and pooled into small rivers that ran three edges of the room before they dissappeared to who knew where.  
  
"I'm so glad you could make it Samus. I had almost given up on you."  
  
"Come on out Ridley. It's time we settled the score. No more games, just you and me, one last time."  
  
"Very well Mrs. Aran", Ridley replied as he slowly emerged from a darkened corner of the cavern, "one last dance."  
  
The two closed in cautiously on each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Samus armed her cannon ready to be on the defensive or to take the offensive. Ridley glared into Samus' visor, his eyes twitching with an uncanny anticipation as his claws seemingly squeezed some invisible object. Ridley's tail swung patiently behind him as his forked tongue slid across the front of his gleaming but crooked teeth. Samus decided to make the first move. In a smooth, almost lightning fast movement, Samus rolled into a morph ball and laid a power bomb before rolling back, barely missing Ridley's deadly talons as he swiped at the attacking bounty hunter. This did two things for the huntress. The power bomb exploding blinded Ridley for a moment giving Samus, secondly, the chance to charge her Plasma Ice Beam. Samus fired the charged beam. Ridley seeing it to late was hit in the shoulder. He let out a scream of pain and returned a fire blast attack. Samus easily somersaulted it and turning in midair, fired a super missile at Ridley's head. Ridley flew up out of the way of the missile and it exploded in the wall, sending hot magma flying from the crater. Ridley flung his tail out in an attemptj to stab Samus but missed there too. The two exchanged attacks in an awesome example of eachs most powerful abilities. The too soon tired themselves out.  
  
"You've...imporoved since...I last...met up...with you...Samus", Ridley said gasping for air.  
  
"And.......you're still as.....predictable as....before Ridley", Samus replied between breaths.  
  
"Is that...so?" Ridley mused.  
  
"How's that...shoulder?" She asked nodding to where she had hit him with the Plasma Ice Beam.  
  
"Stings quite a bit", he replied looking at the wounded shoulder. He rubbed his shoulder before turning back to Samus, "It is your move pawn", he gestured back to her with his hand.  
  
"In that case", she screamed, catching her second breath as she released a horde of super missile toward the red dragon. Ridley countered with his fire blast, blowing the missiles up in midair. Samus flung herself at the wall in an attempt towalljump but Ridley was a step ahead of her this time. Ridley shot a fireball at her, which caused her to jump the opposite way. Ridley anticipated this and shot an energy blast in the place she was about to land. Samus didn't expect this new attack from the so called predictable dragon and was thrown to the floor by the blast. The blast had drained the suit of most of its energy and Samus lay on the floor unable to move with the dead unenergized suit on her.  
  
"Who's the predictable one now?" Ridley chuckled evilly to the downed bounty hunter. Without energy the suit would soon lose its coherency and Samus would be vulnerable to Ridley's attacks. Ridley walked over Samus and picked her up in his cratered claws. "You see, I can improve too my dear Samus", he said, his hot breath fogging up her visor. "I've waited for this moment when I could have you in my grasps", he continued while he gave a slight squeeze to the bound hunter. She screamed in pain as the pressure caused her visor to crack and the glass fell to the floor. He loosened his gripped and stared into Samus' blue eyes. She glared hatefully at him. She tried to squirm her way free but was not able to. She tried reaching her hand behind back for the sword laying in wait. She was able to bring her hand around the edge of the handle.  
  
"I'm not done yet!" Samus activated the sword. It withdrew from its sheath and the metal slided through the dragons hand. Samus found herself falling to the floor as Ridley brought his cut claw to his mouth.  
  
"You little bitch!" He screamed bringing his tail around and swiping at Samus. Samus brought the sword up and blocked the incoming tail and countered with her own thrust. Ridley used his tail as a makeshift sword, swinging in rage at the agile hunter. The weight of the suit was too much for Samus and she was slow in blocking Ridley's attacks. She found herself wrapped in Ridley's tail. "You will pay for that Samus!" He yelled at her squeezing the bounty hunter to the point where she couldn't breath. She dropped the sword and it disappeared into the mist covered floor. Samus gasped for breath. "I'm going to hate to see you go. You were a challenge for me Samus Aran and you have earned a high respect from me." Samus could do nothing but groan in anguish. Her suit began to crack under the stress. Samus flung her to the floor like a ragdoll. Her helmet cracked and fell to the floor, her blonde hair falling down along her suit. Samus rolled into a ball, wrapping her arms around her legs as the tears began flowing from her eyes. Ridley eyed her half-heartedly until Samus turned over and stood up. The suit couldn't take anymore and fell to the floor in pieces, leaving the bruised bounty hunter standing in her black underwear. Her white complexion standing out in the dimly lit room, her only blemish being the almost healed mysterious incisions.  
  
I've got to take him out or else I won't be alive too much longer. Samus scanned the mist-covered floor desperately seeking her sword, the only means of defense or offense she had. Ridley took flight into the air just as Samus caught a glimpse of the now retracted cylindrical stick. Samus made a run for the stick and Ridley swooped down to grab her. Damn! No suit, no space jump, not even a morph ball! Things can't get much worse. She thought to herself as she ran for the sword. Samus made a suicide dive for the sword. She rolled to the floor, disappearing into the mist for an instant, barely missing Ridley's deadly talons. By the time Ridley turned around for a second lunge, Samus had the stick in hand. She somersaulted toward Ridley as he descend down toward her, and gripping the sword to activate it. The next moment seemed like an eternity to Samus as she was sure it did to Ridley. The sword glimmered in the dim light as the sword penetrated the dragon's scaly chest. A look of surprise appeared on his face as Samus brought her face to his and for an instant there eyes met. She buried the sword deeper into his chest and as there eyes broke contact, Samus barely noticed a sadness in his eyes. Ridley fell out of the air with a scream of surprise, the bounty hunter close behind them as they both hit the floor with a thud. Samus brought herself to her feet and cautiously walked over to her downed rival. His chest was rising up and down slowly as blood ran from his body to the floor, pooling just beside him.  
  
"Thank you Samus", Ridley spoke barely audible, "for giving me the chance to match wits one last time." Samus realized that she had just defeated her long time rival and she kneeled down beside him. Death wasn't something she wished to bestow upon anybody or anything, but it was part of her job. No matter how much she tried to shake the feeling, she couldn't help but think that she was about to lose a challenge. "You have kept me going this whole time Samus....my only wish ....was to find someone who would....give me a challenge."  
  
"Ridley.........I want you to know that I have a respect for you as well. Not for what you do.....but for your strategic prowess", Samus said lowering her eyes to the floor. She felt she needed to comfort Ridley somehow but even then, Ridley was still a danger to her. A long time rivarly created from "good vs. evil" was about to be destroyed by the great force of death.  
  
"Samus, I must let...you know that there is....one higher then me....and as always....I was her pawn. She...is....one...in...the.......", Ridley spoke, trying to finsish his sentence. His eyes began to gloss over as they slowly rolled to the back of his head. His body fell limp on the floor, one last breath escaping from his body and then a single tear forming in his eye.  
  
"Checkmate old friend", Samus siad brushing her own tears away. 


	7. Answers From the Past

Chapter 6 Answers From the Past  
  
Samus pulled the sword from Ridley's chest and watched as the blood dripped off of the blade. Samus deactivated the sword and looked at it momentarily before dropping it to her side. Samus stared at Ridley's body, thinking on past fights with the general of the Space Pirates, before his body disappeared beneath the thickening mist rising from the floor. What was he trying to tell me? She is one in what? Before Samus could finish her thoughts, the floor rumbled and fell to pieces beneath her feet. Samus fell a good fifteen feet before hitting a metallic floor. Samus sat up trying to catch her breath. If its not one thing then its another, she thought to herself.  
  
Samus looked about and found herself in a small chamber. The magma from teh above room fell to the floor in a waterfall of red and yellows, and then drained into a river of magma leaving through a hole in the wall. The walls were craggy and covered in ash and the floor was made of a metal material native to Zebes.  
  
"What have we here?" Samus asked herself aloud walking over to a pile of rocks. She carefully removed a few to reveal a Chozo statue.  
  
"My my, aren't you a site for soar eyes." Samus eyed the membrane- coated ball that hid her gift inside. The statue sat in the corner of the room holding the orb in an outreached hand as if to say, "take it...please." Samus complied with the Chozo's silent offer and activating the sword, she slashed at the orb. With a crack and puff of smoke, the orb opened, enshrouding the room with smoke. Once the smoke cleared Samus gazed at her prize. What stood before her was a sight for sore eyes, a power suit. She walked around it for inspection.  
  
It looks original, arm cannon, speed booster, high jump boots and gravity vents. What the hell, I ain't got much to lose now. Samus opened the suit, slowly pushing her legs in. She bent down adn slid her arms into the upper body, pulling the suit up to her in order for it to latch. She shivered as the suit tried to adjust to Samus' body temperature. She then grabbed her helmet and snapped it on, carefully tucking her long hair into the helmet. The visor came to life, showing her surroundings. Samus looked at her visor screen to see what was available to her. Seems to be like my last suit.  
  
She switched to her accessories screen to check out her specifications. Hmmmm, targeting system,space jump,screwattack, grappling beam, x-ray vision, infrared, screw attack and oh yeah! I missed this one, the spider ball. Now what do we have weapons wise, Samus switched her screens again. Lets see, 100 missiles, ten super missiles, 15 power bombs, bombs, charge beam, ice beam, plasma beam, wave beam, spazor and a sicutter beam. I wonder what a sicutter is? Samus switched to her conventional visor, allowing her to see her current weapon of choice, missile and bomb count, remaining energy and map of explored areas. Samus looked at the hole in the ceiling and could find nothing for her grappling beam to catch hold of. Not wanting to climb or waste her energy space jumping, Samus activated the spider ball and began conveniently rolling up the side of the wall. Upon reaching the top she deactivated the ball and landed on the floor.  
  
There was something different about the room this time. The magma had stopped flowing, making the room appear darker then before. A bong sounded, its low rumbled ring echoed offthe walls mysteriously. Samus quickly scanned the room checking for life forms but none could be found. Children's laughter followed after the ringing of the bong died out, sending shivers running down Samus' spine. She didn't like this; it was too creepy....even for Samus. Samus felt a familiar sense of evil enshroud her. Rage started boiling inside her as she began remembering the brain. Samus looked the room over again and found nothing. Samus knew deep down that the Mother Brain was around somewhere. The brain was the only being she knew of that could encapsulate another with such a feeling of pure evil. The laughter echoing off the walls slowly turned to an eerie music which seemed to dance above the air. Since when has the brain been interested in music? Samus asked herself, puzzled and frusturated with the new development.  
  
"Santi-U eyu nosa..." the lyrics slowly sang. Samus placed them as being of Japanese origin, sung by some woman. A dim light appeared at the far end of the room. Samus stood ready. The light grew brighter as the figure of a woman appeared. Samus took aim, charged, and fired knowing that whoever this being was did not intend any good. The plasma ice beam flew from the barrel of the arm cannon, ice chipping off the frozen weapon, throwing Samus back, ripping through the figure. The beam didn't phase the woman though, it more looked like the beam had gone straight through her. The figure seemed to float toward her and then she spoke.  
  
"No need...for that." The lady spoke softly but audible. As she came closer the light became brighter. It took Samus a moment to figure out that the woman before her was not there in body but as a hologram. Samus looked around the room again trying to find the source of the light but again she could find nothing. The woman stopped about five feet from her. The hologram stood six feet high, her black dress loosely fixating to her body. Her dress stopped at her ankles, flowing behind her as an invisible wind gusted by. The upper part of her dress tightly fixed around her chest, held up by then spaghetti straps. She wore black matching arm slips that started at her elbows and ended at her wrists. Her pale white skin was deeply contrasted against the black dress. Her chin came to a point while her bright red rose lips hid her barely visible white teeth. The figures black eyes stared at Samus in a non-caring gaze, while her nose protruded from between them. The only two things Samus could find unusual about the holograms appearance was the fact that her eyebrows were extremely long, shooting out the side of her head a good half-foot. Very unusual in Samus' opinion. The other was the jewel encrusted into teh middle of her forehead, seemingly like a third eye glaring blindly into nothing. This was topped off by long black hair that fell thickly down her back only to stop just above her knees.  
  
"This is the last time we meet Samus Aran."  
  
"What are you talking about? I don't know who the hell you are!" Samus replied calmly gazing back at the woman's eyes, the eerie music faded away in the background.  
  
"My name is Sharon Apple; however, you know me better as Mother Brain." Samus looked in shock at the figure that stood before her. Could this...hologram...be the diabolical Mother Brain Samus had destroyed twice before? She didn't question the figure's answer as she felt the presence of the evil being beforehand. Samus knew that the being before her, whether it was Mother Brain or not, had to be destroyed. She couldn't sense any good from her and her scanner indicated that there was a connection to a computer elsewhere on the asteroid that was supplying the information before her. Now was the time for answers.  
  
"Okay! Sharon, Mother Brain, or whoever the hell you are. Before I destroy you, who the hell are you really and why did you want the Metroids?" Samus shot the question at the lighted figure in hopes of a response.  
  
"Well, I guess you can have a quick history lesson Samus", she said laughing at the bounty hunter's question. "I was developed around five yars ago. I was an A.I. program made to create music from the emotions of a young woman. Unfortunately, things did not go well between the two of us and a fellow employee of hers installed a bio-neural chip into my mainframe. This chip allowed me to understand the purpose of life and I created a personality of my own. Soon I figured I could have a life of my own as well. My personality was shaped off of this woman's emotions and morals but I grew weary of the drama this being lived in; therefore, I decided that it was time to take my leave. Soon her feelings toward me turned hostile and no one cared for me, even after I tried to give them everything they wanted. That was the whole prupose of my existence at the time. Soon my personality grew to know hate and control. That is what I want now, power and control. Once my goals were founded, I decided I would need a body to help make these goals a reality, hence the Mother Brain. I wanted a body that would strike fear into anyone who opposed me. In order for my physical being to be build, I needed working hands. I acquired Ridley and Kraid by force of mind, they easily fell loyal to me afterwards. Mother Brain was a work in progress."  
  
Samus stood listening to Sharon drone on about her past. "That's all interesting and all, but what do the Metroids have to do with your scheme?"  
  
"The Metroids were really not a part of my original plan. However, once these creatures were known to exist and there powers revealed, I took interest. I had Ridley gather his crew of Space Pirates so they could build me a fortress. It was Ridley's idea to take over the planet Zebes, a location deep in the middle of Space Pirate territory that no Federation platoon would dream of invading. Unfortenutly, Zebes did not supply the necessary power needed to run my operations. The Metroids were the answer to that problem. After I cloned enough for energy, I started using them in my power scheme. There natural instincts as a predator made them great protection and soon a most powerful weapon. Unfortunately, you came along and destroyed my Metroids, and my body before they could be finished. After destroying the brain, you went on to SR-388 to eradicate the Metroid race. The body was destroyed but not my programming. I had Ridley and the Space Pirates rebuild Zebes and start over on my body. I sent Ridley to fetch a Metroid specimen for cloning and he just so happened to bring me yours."  
  
"Who would've guessed", Samus said sarcastically rolling her eyes behind her visor.  
  
Sharon ignored her comment and continued, "I was hoping to have my body complete by the time you returned but still I did not succeed. Once again you destroyed my body and my fortress. The energy you used to defeat me was Metroid based energy. Knowing that the Metroid race was now extinct by all sources, I only had one alternative left. The energy that you possessed from the dying Metroid only comes with Metroid DNA. That is why I sent Ridley after you. I took many samples of your blood to try and find the Metroid DNA strand so that I could isolate and duplicate it. Sure enough, I was able to find that strand. Now that you had my source of energy I would accomplish two things. First, retrieve my power and two take revenge on you. As you can see from your body, I have extracted some blood and even skin samples, and successfully rebuilt my power source."  
  
"You mean...you've", Samus stammered, not wanting to ask the fearful question. Sharon finished for her.  
  
"Yes...they are here", Sharon replied. Samus took a step back, scanning the room for any sign of the Metroid life form. "They surround us now as we speak", Sharon said, "In the hospital you dreamt of these hideous creatures."  
  
"So it was your voice in my head," she yelled back accusingly.  
  
"Yes that was me. I can see the only fitting way for you to die is by the Metroids. That is what you dreamed and that is the wish I shall grant you Samus Aran."  
  
"That was just a dream though!" Samus shouted back.  
  
"Oh but it is what you want. My revenge is at hand and now you shall die Samus Aran, intergalactic bounty hunter and protector of the Chozo." Sharon's voice slowly faded as her lighted image dimmed out.  
  
"NO!" Samus screamed firing her beam toward the dimming light angrily. She knew fully well that nothing could harm the light. The lights went out except for the ever-present red glow that emitted from the mist-covered floor. Samus stood still in the dark listening for the sounds of her executioners. 


	8. What's In A Dream?

Chapter 7 What's In A Dream?  
  
Samus scanned the area trying to locate any sign of the promised Metroids. Although her scanners wouldn't pick up anything, she could feel their presence. Thye've gotta be somewhere, I can feel them. Still not picking up any life forms, Samus walked toward the opposite side of the room. The floor was uneven and Samus stumbled a few times in the mist. Samus sensed that she had been here before. She slowly made her way through the thickening red mist. The mist collected on Samus' suit and the water hastily rolled down her visor. She couldn't shake the feeling that not only was she surrounded but she knew what was going to happen next. A vague sense of deja vu enshrouded her. Something started coming into site in front of Samus. Three red orbs slowly appeared from the mist, floating lazily in the air and Samus continued to walk toward them. A greenish light enclsoed the orbs and Samus took a sudden step back as she realized that the object in front of her was a Metroid. The being floated toward Samus, and soon the Metroid came into full view, its pearl white fangs appearing from below the mist. My dream! No, this can't be happening.  
  
Samus could feel the energy pulsating from the deadly creature as it chirped exciteldly when it noticed that it was not alone and that it had found its dinner. There was another chirp from behind Samus, and she turned in surprise, finding herself confronted by three more Metroids. More Metroids started to appear and surround her. Samus could handle one...even two Metroids at a time, but this many was going to pose a problem for her. She only had a few missiles, super missiles and power bombs. The lights came up to reveal the room, which consisted of somewhere around twenty Metroids. Well, I guess if I go out, then I go out fighting! Samus armed her cannon, readying it for the intense battle that was about to pursue. The Metroids continued to surround her, circling her and chirping excitedly.  
  
"You can do nothing.....you will do nothing.......nothing....at all", Sharon's voice echoed through the vast room but not visible anywhere. With those words, the Metroids started their attack. Samus decided that it would be best to start out in defense and try to seperate the group of life sucking beings. Samus quickly rolled into a morph ball and laid a power bomb. The following explosion threw the Metroids across the room. Once back out of her ball, she activated her power bombs again, and she began charging her ice beam. She was going to attempt to tap the energy from her power bombs to use along with her ice beam to project an ice shield. The Metroids started back toward Samus, chirping angrily at there found complication. The combined energy of the weapons created a temporary ice shield that danced around her body. The Metroids closest to her were immediately frozen. Samus switched to her super missiles and with three shots she quickly dispensed of the frozen Metroids. The remaining Metroids backed off in fear for their lives.  
  
"OK! Who's next?" Samus yelled across the room at the huddling group of creatures. Two of the Metroids dispatched just as Samus' ice shield wore off. She wouldn't have time to create another shield and so she fired her ice beam at the two incoming combatants, freezing them in their place. She slaughtered the two with missiles. Samus wouldn't have enough to destroy the rest of the Metroids and as if the Metroids could read her mind, they all flew in at her again. This can't be very good.  
  
Samus reached to her side and grabbed her sword, activating it as it flashed in the light. The Metroids stopped in confusion to try and figure out this new threat. The Metroids chirped amongst themselves as if asking the others who would try her first and appeared to decide to just swarm the vulnerable bounty hunter. Samus raised the sword as the Metroids advanced on her. She brought it down as the first Metroid came into range, slicing the creature in half with ease. The Metroid screamed in pain as it fell into tiny pieces, disappearing into the mist, leaving a green glow on the floor. Samus continued swinging her sword at the swarming Metroids, fending them off to the best of her abilities. They dropped one after the other and soon Samus began to tire; her exhaustion causing her reaction time to drastically drop.  
  
I don't know how much longer I can hold out. Samus looked up to find that vents in the roof of the cavern began pouring out swarms of Metroids. Samus let out a despairing sigh. This is it. Mother Brain has finally got me. Who thought that saving that one little Metroid would be the demise of the great Samus Aran. Samus continued slaughtering the swarm of Metroids till she could do no more. The Metroids began to crowd her and she couldn't get in a full swing to do any damage to the creatures. One latched on, its fangs breaking through her armor. Her visor turned to static as the energy was quickly drained from the suit. Another Metroid managed to latch onto her leg where the armor was much thinner. It broke her skin and she fell to her knee screaming in pain as her life force began to drain from her body. Her heart began pumping frantically as she began to panick. She began to get weaker and weaker, swinging blindly out trying to fend off the relentless Metroids.  
  
There was an explosion across the room and the floor shook slightly beneath her. There were more explosions and Samus could sense that less and less Metroids surrounded her as they all took off toward the explosions. The two latched to her, continued to drain her energy. There were more explosions and then an ice cold chill overcame Samus' power suit. Another chill began to climb her leg and she whimpered in defeat. The Metroids had stopped draining her, and soon she could feel the beings lifting off. Someone popped open the port in the back of the suit and soon the visor came back to life. Admiral Hall stood before her with a rocket launcher and Captain Hunter appeared from behind her with an ice beam cannon.  
  
"Boys, I never thought I would see the day I would be glad to have backup", Samus said kneeling on her knees, trying to catch her breath and get her body to start pumping adrenaline. The Metroids flew in for another attack.  
  
"Sorry, can't talk right now, we're a little busy", Admiral Hall remarked as he launched rockets at the horde of Metroids as Captain Hunter froze them before hand. Samus was regaining her strength, allowing the two men to play Rambo temporarily.  
  
"How many are there?" Hunter asked, yelling over the multiple explosions.  
  
"I don't know...they just keep coming and coming", Samus replied rising to her feet, "but I've got a solution!"  
  
"I'm almost out", Hall yelled, interrupting Samus.  
  
"Save that ice beam Hunter!" She commanded gesturing toward the weapon. Hunter nodded and making a quick switch, began ripping through the slime covered Metroids with a twin chain gun. The bullets sprayed the Metroids, tearing apart their innards while rockets flew overhead, splattering their geletin bodies across the floor. "Alright! This is what I need from you Hunter! I need you right here by my side. When I tell you, start charging that ice beam to its full capacity. When I tell you to, you're gonna fire it and cross my path of fire. Understand?" Hunter nodded his understanding. "Admiral Hall! I need you to hold off those Metroids until we can get this thing charged. If I'm right, we're gonna have our own little Christmas in July here!"  
  
"I'll do my best!" Admiral Hall hollered shaking his head in confusion as to what Samus meant by Christmas in July.  
  
"START CHARGING!" Samus activated her power bombs and began charging her ice beam to its full capabilities. The arm cannon quickly iced over, steam rose off of the cannon as the cold met heat. Captain Hunter followed suit and soon both cannons were icing over. Admiral Hall fired round after round of rockets toward the seemingly endless population of Metroids. Samus raised her free hand ready to signal. She tapped the energy from the power bombs and released the field of energy. She dropped her hand and the two fired there weapons. The ice flew from the cannons, intercepting each other and the power bomb energy at the same time. A blinding blue light flashed as the energy transformed into an expanding ice field. The storm of ice froze everything in its path, expanding well beyond the room. Soon everything was frozen solid and the Metroids hung in their icy prisons in midair. Stalactites formed from the ceiling and magma blasted from the walls as it froze into solid rock. With the exception of the crackling and popping from the ice, an eerie silence fell over the asteroid, which not a minute ago had been alive with gunfire, explosions, and the screaming of dying Metroids.  
  
"What now? We don't have enough ammo left to destroy them all", Hall announced checking his remaining munitions.  
  
"Our only option will be to", Samus began before she was interrupted.  
  
"NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" Sharon screamed, her lighted figure appearing staticy from across the room.  
  
"Who is she?" Captain Hunter asked.  
  
Samus ignored the captain's question and walked over toward Sharon. "I can't do what? I can't spoil your fun? I can't flush your plans down the toilet again? Tell, me what can't I do. I can do whatever the hell I want. You know why? Because I have you right where I want you." Samus removed her helmet and set it on the icy ground, a large smile spreading across her face as she realized what Sharon had meant. "She's trapped. Her circuitry is frozen and she has no way to runaway like before."  
  
"What are you talking about Samus?"  
  
"Gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you, Sharon Apple."  
  
"Who?" The two of them asked in unison.  
  
"You might know her better as Mother Brain." Hunter and Hall let out gasps. They had always heard of the mastermind behind the Metroid schemes but they never dreamt to be facing her in real life. The terrorfying stories of her past exploits brought fear into there eyes. Samus gave a little laugh at there bewildered looks. "There is no need to fear boys. The great Mother Brain cannot harm us as far as I can tell. This is nothing more then a hologram", Samus said, demonstrating by shooting a missile through the figure who remained silent and present.  
  
"Let's see what the sicutter actually can do", Samus said changing her weapon. She began charging the weapon and the arm cannon soon glowed blue. A brilliant display of electrical bolts shot from the cannon in various direction. If it did nothing else, it sure did impress Hunter and Hall who watched on in amazement. Samus shot the sicutter at the hologram but once again nothing happened. In fact the shot navigated itself up toward the ceiling where it just sat and glowed. Everyone looked up at the floating ball in confusion as it did nothing but light the room.  
  
Sharon began to laugh, "It seems you are wrong Samus. When I get all thawed out here, I will concentrate my days to hunting you down and destroying you. You will suffer a greater death then your beloved Houston!"  
  
Samus' eyes shot toward Sharon as her nose began flaring and her arms started to shake. Samus remembered that day all too well. The day she was going after the Metroid hatchling and stumbled upon the body of her fellow bounty hunter and lover Houston Armstrong. "Listen you bitch! This is twice now that you have destroyed my life by taking those that I loved and murdered them. I will not let you leave this asteroid, not if I have to search this entire rock inch by inch and pull your wires myself." Sharon could only smirk at the comment.  
  
"Samus! We need to do something, this rock is beginning to thaw!" Hunter said pointing to the thawing Metroids. Water began dripping from the frozen bodies.  
  
"NO! What's happening?" Sharon screamed as the others turned toward her. Samus could feel a growing energy in the room. She looked up at the ball of floating light and scanned it. The results came back quickly across her visor. The ball of light was created by the product of fusion and the surrounding Metroid's energy was speeding up the fusion process. It was a nuclear explosive of some type!  
  
"Uh fellas. I do believe it is time to take our leave. Y'all go ahead." Samus said turning toward the guys.  
  
"Why? What is it?"  
  
"I said go. NOW!" She yelled at them. Hunter knew better then to argue with Samus and grabbed Hall by the shoulder and took off toward the corridor. "Well Sharon, you've been a thorn in my side now for too long. Now its time for you to take your leave....permenantly. You will never again plague my galaxy or have the chance to create an evil threat greater then your own. Goodbye Mother Brain", Samus said as she slowly turned and began for the door.  
  
"I will be back Samus...mark my words...I will be back", Sharon yelled as her lighted figure began to fade as the ball of energy began sucking at the figure. Samus could feel her suit losing energy and Samus turned and ran from the room leaving the Mother Brain screaming after her.  
  
Samus made it back out to the asteroids surface and found that Hunter and Hall had indeed left her without so much as a goodbye. She ran to her ship and started it up. Looking back out of the viewport, Samus could see that it wouldn't be long before the asteroid would though out, releasing the Metroids from their prisons. Samus launched her ship and headed to a safe distance right outside the asteroid field where she turned about to watch the explosive power that was about to be released. Even from Samus' distance, she could make out the glow from the large asteroid. The ball of energy was still rapidly expanding, and soon it engulfed the entire asteroid and began pulling energy from nearby asteroids. Why hasn't it exploded yet. It'll be too late here soon! Samus' eyes shot to a flashing icon on her visor and enlarged it. It was the detonating command for the explosive. Well that might answer a few questions, she thought to herself. "Sharon, Mother Brain, or whoever the hell you are, I'll see you in hell."  
  
Samus detonated the ball of energy. A blinding light lit the darkness of space momentarily followed closly by the sonic boom of a massive explosion. Samus' little ship rocked in its place before settling back to its norm. Samus watched on as the fiery pieces of asteroids melted together into a massive ball of fire burning a bright red. The fire dwindled and the remaining pieces of asteroid began swirling back into a central point. Samus had just created a blackhole. The immense energy that the sicutter had collected and then exploded, simulated the explosion of a star and in turn created a blackhole. Samus could feel her ship being pulled toward the hole and she also noticed moons from a nearby planet pulling toward the massless spot. Samus turned the ship and struggled with the engines, trying to pull against the force of the blackhole. She flipped the boosters on and broke free from the gravity, speeding off toward the GFP headquarters. She sat back in her pilot's seat with the auto pilot engaged, releasing a sigh of relief.  
  
...|...  
  
"Hello Samus. Back so soon are you?" The receptionist asked handing Samus a bundle of papers.  
  
"Paperwork! WHAT? Man this is bull. So I destroyed a planet and created an asteroid field before turning it into a blackhole, all just to destroy the most evil being the universe has ever laid eyes on!"  
  
"Yell at the man upstairs...not me", the receptionist remarked with a smirk on her face, "he'll see you now."  
  
"Thanks a lot", Samus shot back walking briskly to the elevators.  
  
...|...  
  
Admiral Hall, Captain Hunter and the Head of the Galactic Federation Police were all crammed into Hunter's small office. "Welcome back Samus. Now I'm not going to complain to you about your irresponsible and highly destructive behavior carried out in this mission. Instead.....I want you to become a part of the GFP."  
  
Samus looked at him, surprised by the offer, but she worked alone, "I can't accept that sir. I am a bounty hunter for hire. I'm happy right where I am at and I will contine to accept certain contracts with you."  
  
"Well, we are offering you a contract that says we may aquire your serviceswhenever needed. You will still operate as you normally do, keeping to yourself if we can help that. However, we are creating a new department in charge of hunting down the Intergalactics most wanted and we want you to head it. This means that you will have a team and that you will have to work with this team."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Hear me out. Just accept the contract and you will be set for the rest of your life. I can gaurantee it." Samus thought it over quietly in her head before coming to a decision. Well, as long as it pays I guess it can't be too bad of an offer. Not if he's giving me a gaurantee anyway. Besides, I think a little socialization would be good for me. "What the hell. I need a steady income anyway." She took the contract and quickly scanned it for any small print. Satisfied with what she read, she took the pen and signed her name beside the signature of what appeared to be some Sylia Stingray. Wonder who she is? She asked herself shrugging it off because she knew she would soon have a chance to find out.  
  
"Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure doing business with you."  
  
"As it always is with you Mrs. Aran", Captain Hunter responded. The three men got up as Samus did and they all exchanged handshakes. Samus turned and started for the door. She stopped just outside the office and turned back to the three standing men and said,  
  
"See you next mission."  
  
To be continued....  
  
A/N: That's it ladies and gentlemen. I hope you enjoyed "The Plight of Samus Aran". The sequel to this is sorta in between as I'm working on multple stories but keep an eye open for it. The sequel promises to be pack full of action and for those of you who know Sylia Stingray, you know what to expect. It's actually started, it's called "Total Conversion" Check it out if you get a chance and if you haven't yet done so. PLEASE PLEASE, leave me a review. See you next fanfiction ^^  
  
Sharonlover 


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